System and interface for co-located collaborative web search

• US 8,266,139 B2
• Filed: 02/12/2008
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Morris, Meredith June, Amershi, Saleema
• Primary Examiner(s): Perveen, Rehana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wong, Huen
• Application Number:
  US12/029,616
• Publication Number:
  US 20090204902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,673 Days
• Field of Search: 707/706, 707/722, 707/736, 707/770, 715/751, 715/754, 715/764
• US Class Current: 707/722
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to perform collaborative retrieval, communication, and navigation of electronic content in a co-located environment. In an illustrative implementation, a collaborative content environment comprises a collaborative content interface engine, and an instruction set comprising at least one instruction providing instructions to the collaborative content interface engine to process data representative of inputs from two or more cooperating interface devices to allow for the retrieval, communication, search, and navigation of electronic content. In the illustrative implementation, the collaborative content interface engine can present retrieved, communicated, searched, and/or navigated data according to a selected display paradigm. The display paradigm can include one or more display portions of a display pane comprising data responsive to the inputs received from the two or more cooperating interface devices.

Claims

1. A system allowing collaborative retrieval, search, communication, and navigation of electronic content, the system comprising:

a computer implementing a content interface engine operative to process one or more inputs to retrieve, search, communicate, and/or navigate electronic content by manipulating pointers concurrently displayed and operated in a window of a browser according to the inputs, the inputs having been received from a plurality of interface devices having respective connections to the computer and concurrently controlling the browser, each pointer corresponding to a respective interface device, each interface device comprising a computing device, the browser executing on the computer;

the content interface engine, executed by the computer, processing the inputs to cause the browser to retrieve, search, communicate, and/or navigate electronic content responsive to the received inputs, the window having a content display area that displays a web page of the electronic content with links therein and a browsing area displaying page indicators that respectively represent clicked search results added to a collection of loaded pages, wherein the clicked search results added to the collection of loaded pages are not displayed, and wherein the page indicators comprise tabs;

only one of the interface devices being designated a controlling interface device, wherein the content interface engine processes the inputs to retrieve pages corresponding to selected links, where the content interface engine handles retrieved pages according to whether a link was selected based on an input from the controlling interface device or based on an input from at least one interface device other than the controlling interface device, the handling of the retrieved pages performed such that;

pages obtained by link selection according to input received from the controlling interface device are displayed in the window and become the at displayed web page in a results pane of the window; and

pages obtained by link selection according to inputs received from interface devices other than the controlling device are added to the collection of loaded pages queue become inactive web pages, are not displayed in the window, and are represented by respective tabs in the window of the browser.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a communications interface operative to electronically communicate data between the content interface engine and one or more cooperating computing environments.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the content interface engine comprises a portion of a computing application.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the interface devices comprise pointing devices or client computing devices.

5. The system as recited in claim 4, wherein the interface devices are operative to communicate with the content interface engine employing a fixed wire and/or wireless communications interface.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the inputs of the interface devices are queued by the content interface engine.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the interface devices are operative to control and/or navigate electronic content displayed in the window.

8. A method for facilitating a collaborative electronic content session, the method comprising:

receiving inputs at a host computing device, during a collaborative electronic content session directed to a browser executing on the host computing device, the inputs from two or more interface devices connected to the host computing device, the interface devices being operated by respective users, the host computing device executing the browser which has a currently displayed page and which has a collection of loaded pages that are not displayed and are respectively represented by tabs, the interface devices comprising computing devices that users thereof interact with to control respective pointers concurrently displayed and operated in a same window of the same browser on the host computing device to direct inputs to the browser, the pointers respectively controlled by the interface devices, wherein only one of the pointers is currently designated a controlling pointer;

wherein each of the interface devices directs inputs to manipulate the pointers, respectively, thereby selecting links in the currently displayed page; and

processing the inputs to select the links by retrieving corresponding web pages and continuing to display the currently displayed page, where pages of links selected by a pointer other than the controlling pointer are added to the collection of loaded pages, are not displayed, and are represented by tabs, and where a link selected by the controlling pointer in the window causes a corresponding web page to be retrieved and to become the currently displayed page.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising displaying a search queue comprised of query strings, wherein any of the interface devices can add a query string to the query queue.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising receiving one or more inputs from the interface devices representative of one or more search queries.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, further comprising processing the one or more search queries of the search queue and in response displaying search results as a new currently displayed page.

12. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising receiving the inputs from the interface devices via corresponding wireless connections between the interface devices and the host computer.

13. A user interface of a browser displayed on a display, and comprising:

a browser display area displaying a query area, a search results area, and a browsing area including a plurality of page indicators, the browsing area having a current page of electronic content with links therein that is displayed and a collection of loaded pages comprising clicked search results that are not displayed and are represented by respectively displayed page indicators, the page indicators comprising tabs;

the query area displaying a plurality of query strings;

the search results area displaying a current search results from a search service, the current search results comprising selectable links and the current search results having been generated and sent by the search service responsive to one of the query strings having been sent to the search service;

a plurality of concurrently displayed and operated pointers displayed in the browsing area, each pointer controlled by a respective computing device of a plurality of computing devices through a corresponding connection to a computer on which the browser is executing;

wherein the plurality of computing devices concurrently control the browser and the computer processes one or more inputs received from the plurality of computing devices to retrieve, search, communicate, and/or navigate electronic content, each pointer able to interact with the search results area, the browser display area, and the set of page indicators, wherein only one pointer of the pointers is currently designated as a controlling pointer; and

wherein any one of the pointers is able to select any link(s) displayed in the current search results to retrieve and load corresponding pages based on whether or not a link was selected by the controlling pointer such that, wherein when the pointer that selected a link was the controlling pointer then the page loaded corresponding to the selected link becomes the current page that is displayed in the browsing area, and when the pointer that selected a link was not the controlling pointer then the page loaded corresponding to the selected link is added to the collection of loaded pages, is not displayed, and is represented by a new tab in the browsing area.

14. A according to claim 13, further comprising adding a new query string to the query area in accordance with input from one of the attached mobile devices.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the query strings are colored according to which of the mobile devices they are associated with.